Like the US, Canada’s treatments towards its aboriginal people was equally harsh, cruel and inhuman. But unlike them, Canadian President Stephen Harper (above) made a formal apology to his nation’s natives followed by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd [who also apologized February this year to Australian aboriginals].

Indigenous people, whether they are Canada’s 1 million aboriginals, Mexico’s 6 million indigenous people or over half of Latin American indigenous population, have a similar story of torture, harassment and exploitation. The Indian children in Canada were dragged to Christian schools where they were forced to forget their indigenous culture, language, religion and customs. They were separated from their families, leading to drug abuse and personality disorders. Some 1,60,000 students passed through these religious schools between mid-1800s to late 1960s.

Ergo, is an apology well started? Yes! Enough? Absolutely not! Governments must encourage unequal advancement of the socio-economic development of these groups. And why? Statistics by UN as well as global governments clearly prove that these groups have low records in all socio-economic indicators – be it education, health or economic conditions.